3 Daycare Workers Charged After Giving Toddlers Gummy Bears Laced With Medicine

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Daycare workers who think that giving melatonin to children as a sleep aid are completely wrong.

As a matter of fact, 3 daycare workers were caught giving toddlers as young as 2 and 3 laced gummi bears in order to help calm them down before naptime!

And yes, this all happened on the job, too!

We know that there are daycare workers out there that are excellent at their job.

They treat their kids as if they were own. And as parents we are fully appreciative of them and want them to know that we see them, we hear them and we acknowledge them.

But just like everything else in life, there are always going to be a few bad apple everywhere that you go. There are always going to be people who abuse their privileges. Or even worse – lack common sense.

Nowadays many people are scared to leave their children in the hands of daycare workers, especially after reading this story.

These 3 women thought they could get away with something that was dumb, dangerous and downright stupid.

Reports say that three daycare workers were arrested at a suburban Chicago day care center after police say they gave a class of toddlers gummy bears with melatonin to calm them down for nap time.

A manager at the Kiddie Junction Daycare Center said to police that one of the teachers had been distributing the laced gummy bears without authorization from parents. “Allegedly, this was done in an effort to calm them down before nap time,” police said in a statement.

The 3 daycare workers who have been charged. They are 25-year-old Ashley Helfenbein of Chicago, 19-year-old Jessica Heyse of Des Plaines and 32-year-old Kristen Lauletta of Niles, Illinois.

Each of them have been charged with two counts of endangering the life or health of a child and two counts of battery.

To add to their woes, police said additional charges are still possible.

The Department of Children and Family Services will also conduct an investigation into the matter and the trio are due to face court on April 4.

They Think They Did Nothing Wrong

But this has to be the worst part. The daycare workers claim they didn’t think what they did was inappropriate because melatonin is an over-the-counter sleep aid.

Seriously?

In addition to this, the day are center is still open and parents have been bringing their children.

There have been no reports yet of any children getting sick from taking the sleep aid but authorities say parents hadn’t given permission for their children to receive the melatonin.“I’m upset and I will be at the court date cause my son was one of the ones that was in the room,” one mother said anonymously.

The internet obviously also has a lot to say about this story. Some comments have included, “That was so stupid on their part. But thinking that melatonin cannot harm a child, which is probably what they were thinking, is dangerous. The children may or may not be able to overdose on it, but the potential is there for serious harm or death.”

Another angry parent said, “Are these women teachers or babysitters? I highly doubt it since the one was only 19…I think it is offensive to call these people “teachers”, unless they are licensed & highly qualified, & they do not appear to be.”

What are your thoughts on this?